Education in contexts affected by mass displacement is typified by political instability,
the marginalization of refugee learners, and a lack of educational resources,
including learning spaces, relevant curricular materials, and mechanisms for the
accreditation of learning that takes place outside formal educational institutions. In
these situations, teachers often become the students’ most powerful and inspirational
education resource. This paper stems from a qualitative study of how Syrian
refugee and Lebanese teachers understand “ future education” in the context of
the protracted crisis in Lebanon. Drawing from Aronowitz and Giroux’s (1993)
concept of transformative intellectuals, we argue that transformative approaches to
professional development can enable teachers to capitalize on their local knowledge,
professional abilities, and creativity to create spaces in which learners feel they
have greater control over their lives and can envision a better future. We propose
a transformative model for teacher professional development that is based on the
ideal learning space envisioned by teachers in a refugee context and on a critical
understanding of their existing learning environments. The intention is to support
teachers as they reshape the learning environments in which they work to bring them
closer to their imagined ideal. The use of available digital technologies enabled these
teachers to create spaces in which they could harness and share the transformative
education practices already in place and facilitate change through massive open
online collaborations